Prace komisji nauk.pdf - Instytut Filologii Angielskiej Uniwersytetu ...

Piotr P. Chruszczewski
University of Wrocław
and
Philological School of Higher Education in Wrocław
Researching “paleometaphors”
and cognitive realities devised by runic graphemes 14
Introduction
The heading of this short work may sound a little misleading, as the term
paleometaphors signifies in this case solely the metaphors which one can
observe on the items which bear runic inscriptions. I adhere to Stack’s (1990:
95-96) idea that “in” language and “through” language one can see how
metaphors actually work in human cognitive systems which are “culturally
bound”, for metaphors represent to a great extent relationships in the realm of
our perception (see also Lakoff and Johnson 1980). We speak and write
customarily presupposing our interlocutors as recipients of our messages; it is
obvious that it “(...) has become a commonplace for setting forth the manner in
which cultural objects are produced, acquire meaning, and play roles in our
lives. (...) The fact that we take so little notice of them attests to the
pervasiveness of metaphors relating the oral and the written in contemporary
critical discussion” (Stack 1990: 95-96). Bearing in mind the above, one may
deduce with a high level of certainty that all societies, and furthermore, all
discourse communities throughout history have had a working set of metaphors
14 Based upon research results published in Chruszczewski (2006: 175-176, 241-246).
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